MORRIS BULLNOSE COWLEY
FROM TIME to time in period British recreations on TV or film, a tidy little roadster is seen. It stands out because of its rounded radiator, in marked contrast to … Continue reading
HAPPY Π-DAY!
TODAY, MARCH 14th, at 53 seconds past 9:26 a.m., can be represented 3/14/15 9:26:53, which displays the first ten digits of the mathematical constant π, 3.14159265358979323846… Also, given that I … Continue reading
HENRY FORD’S FIRST FLIGHT
HENRY FORD was 64 years old before he took his first airplane ride. Not that aviation was of little interest to him: Ford had already invested in an aeroplane (albeit … Continue reading
THE ANNOTATED MONA LISA
“I MAY not know much about art, but I know what I like.” For a long time, this adage summed up my own art appreciation. But I recently rummaged through … Continue reading
THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE CITIES
LIKE MANY, I am curious about lists of extremes, the most this, the least that. And, being as I am something of a city dweller (as opposed to living rurally), … Continue reading
BROMINE—PRODUCT OF A BAD NEIGHBORHOOD
BROMINE, FROM the Greek, βρῶμος, brómos, as in “strong-smelling,” is a fuming liquid at room temperature. It’s toxic and corrosive. But it isn’t all bad. It just comes from a … Continue reading
THE REDHEAD WITH DISTURBINGLY ROUND GOGGLES, PART II
YESTERDAY, TONY Jannus’s 1914 flight across Tampa Bay turned into something even more disturbing than his passenger’s disturbingly round goggles. Chapter 3—A new place, and a new friend THIS was … Continue reading
THE REDHEAD WITH DISTURBINGLY ROUND GOGGLES
A ROMANCE starring Tony Jannus, the Benoist XIV Flying Boat and the Redhead with Disturbingly Round Goggles. Chapter 1—No longer a lazy day FOR pilot Tony Jannus, it seemed just … Continue reading
MATHEMATICIANS AND THE NSA
THE FEDERAL government’s National Security Agency is charged with devising cryptologic systems for protecting U.S. information while, at the same time, exploiting weaknesses in the information systems of other countries. … Continue reading
IS PRIVACY GONE FOR GOOD?
SCIENCE MAGAZINE, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has part of its January 30, 2015, issue devoted to “The End of Privacy.” A dozen essays present … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 